


Breathless

by stelladora



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 22:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2167443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelladora/pseuds/stelladora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nitori nearly drowns, and Rin is suspicious when he sees how promptly Sousuke gives him CPR.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathless

Like most pools, the Samezuka team’s training area had a sign posted by the door that displayed the numerous rules. The very first one read “No running” in large read letters. Nitori, along with the rest of the team, must have seen it hundreds of times. However, obeying the rules wasn’t on his mind as he dashed across the tiled floor of the pool deck. The only thought running through his head was: _If I’m late to practice again, senpai will be furious!_ He had been in the library, focused on writing a paper for his history class when he’d noticed the time and rushed to practice.

Seeing his teammates already gathered on the other side of the pool, Nitori’s heart sank and he let out a small squeak of fear. Rin was intimidating even when he was in a good mood; the last thing Nitori wanted was to upset his former roommate. He scampered towards them, hoping he hadn’t missed anything, and didn’t notice the wet tiles beneath his feet. With a loud, embarrassing screech, Nitori slipped on the tiles and failed to catch his balance before falling into the pool. The momentum of his fall propelled him downward; he barely had time to think about how embarrassed he was before his head struck the bottom of the pool and everything went dark.

* * *

 

While he addressed his team, Rin faced the pool, and had ample opportunity to see Nitori scurry in late. Resolving to chastise the second-year later rather than interrupt his speech, he ignored him. However, the loud splash resulting from the boy’s fall made everyone turn their heads, and Rin was instantly alert.

“Nitori!” Rin practically screamed. His voice resounded off the high, empty ceiling of the pool, mingling with the concerned murmurs and shouts of the rest of the team. Without pausing even long enough to remove his team jacket, Rin pushed passed everyone else and dove into the water, swimming at top speed until he scooped up Nitori’s unmoving body. Rin’s heart was racing: Nitori was always exuberant and energetic, so there was no way he’d go so still in a situation like this, unless…

Rin heaved Nitori’s unconscious body up onto the tiled edge of the pool, where most of the team had gathered. Sousuke was kneeling there waiting, and he took charge as Rin pulled himself out of the pool. Rin watched, worry gripping his heart, as Sousuke checked for signs of breathing. Unable to find any, he immediately began CPR, and Rin was suddenly thankful that those boring first-aid training sessions had paid off. Within a few seconds, Nitori’s eyes opened, and the shock of finding Sousuke’s lips on his own made him sputter and cough up the water he’d swallowed. Rin, along with most of the team, breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“Are you alright?” Rin asked, kneeling down to look Nitori in the eye.

Nitori nodded, blushing heavily upon feeling all eyes on him. “Y-yes. Thank you for saving me,” he squeaked, turning to Sousuke. “I’m sorry, I was in the library, and I lost track of time, and I didn’t want to be late, so—”

“It’s fine,” Rin cut him off. He was just relieved that they had avoided a tragedy.

“Good thing you didn’t bash your head hard enough to get any blood in the pool,” Sousuke interjected. “It’d be a pain in the ass to drain it.”

Rin rolled his eyes before standing up, the other two following suit. “Everyone,  you’ve got your training regimens. Get to work. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he called out. “Come on,” Rin added, turning to Nitori and pulling him along with him towards the door. He kept himself between the younger boy and the pool as they walked. “What the hell were you doing?” he asked as they exited the building and stepped outside. The air was cold against his wet skin, but his face was flushed and warm. He’d been so scared when he saw Nitori unconscious like that…

“I… I’m sorry senpai!” Nitori apologized, wondering how he’d be able to get over the shame of what had happened. _Rin-senpai probably pulled me out of practice just to scold me,_ he thought bitterly. The older boy’s grip on his arm slackened a bit, and it was only then that Nitori noticed that Rin was also soaked. “W-what happened to you?” he inquired.

Rin scoffed, falling into his old habit of disguising any unwanted emotions with anger. “Who do you think saved your ass?”

Nitori’s eyes widened, and he stared at Rin as they walked back in the direction of the dorms. “But I thought Yamazaki-senpai was the one who…?” Nitori trailed off, his confusion evident. Being unconscious was definitely not something he wanted to do again any time soon.

“I pulled you out, he gave you mouth-to-mouth,” Rin reported flatly.

“Oh. And…where are we going now?” Nitori queried, wondering why the two of them had left practice in the first place.

“Christ, Ai, you blacked out. Do you really think I’m going to let you practice today?” Rin demanded, as if offended that Nitori would consider his captain so heartless. He kept a close but clandestine eye on Nitori, making sure that the boy was really alright and wasn’t at risk of fainting or something.

“R-right. Okay.” Nitori nodded, then glanced sidelong at Rin. He caught the older boy’s eye and immediately looked down at his feet, blushing. “Thank you very much for saving me!” He finally burst out, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.

Rin stopped a step ahead of him, and smirked when he heard the earnest note in Nitori’s voice. His reaction to jump into the pool had been instinctive; he’d hardly even thought about it. “Yeah, well, don’t let it happen again. Even as an excuse to kiss Sousuke,” Rin added.

Even Nitori smiled at that, and the two resumed walking in the direction of the dorms. “I wouldn’t really call that a kiss. It was pretty different than last time,” Nitori reasoned.

“Last time?” Rin demanded, turning to Nitori so fast he almost hurt his neck.

Nitori turned his usual embarrassed shade of red. “I…I thought you knew about that,” he managed to stammer.

“Knew about _what_?” Rin pressed, baring his teeth as his mind jumped to conclusions.

“It was in the beginning of term. You weren’t here that weekend; I think you were at home. I… Well, some of the team and I had a party, and…he and I ended up…kissing.” Nitori was almost shaking in a mixture of embarrassment and anticipation of Rin’s reaction.

Anger was a common expression on Rin’s face, but this was beyond that. Nitori was almost afraid when he looked over at the older boy. “What the fuck? Why have I not heard about this until now?” he demanded. Before giving Nitori a chance to answer, Rin continued, “Why did you kiss him? Or was it the other way around?”

“I-it started as truth or dare,” Nitori explained, keeping a careful eye on Rin lest he explode. “He got dared to kiss someone, and he picked me, and then…we sort of…kept doing it.”

“Jesus Christ,” Rin muttered. He ripped his jacket off himself and thrust it into Nitori’s arms. “Take this back to the dorm and wash it. I don’t want the chlorine to ruin it. And do something productive with your day off, because it’s going to be your last.” After giving the orders, Rin turned around and stomped off back in the direction of the pool, leaving Nitori standing there  dumbstruck.

* * *

 

Nitori had his own laundry to do, so he put Rin’s jacket into the washer with his own clothes. Returning to his dorm room from the basement of the building, Nitori replayed his conversation with Rin, wondering what had set the older boy off. Was he angry that no one had told him about the events of that night until so many months later? Or, and Nitori had to admit to himself that this was the likelier option, was Rin jealous of him? As he trudged up the stairs to his room, Nitori thought it over. It made perfect sense that Rin would have a crush on Sousuke. Nitori wasn’t blind; he knew that Sousuke was a hundred times more attractive than he was. And Sousuke was a fantastic swimmer, and he was intelligent, and didn’t get on Rin’s nerves… Sousuke was everything Nitori wasn’t.

Feeling miserable, Nitori plopped down at his desk and flipped open his history textbook. His eyes scanned the words, but he couldn’t absorb their meaning; he was too focused on the fact that his crush—not to say obsession—with Rin would have to stop. _It’s clear he doesn’t like me. He must see me as an annoying little pest who always gets in the way and can’t do anything right and—_

A tear rolled down his cheek and onto the page of his book, and Nitori took a shaky breath and wiped his eyes. There was no point in crying over something he never had, was there?

* * *

 

Practice ended and Rin dismissed his team, still feeling irritable. It had shocked him to hear that Sousuke and Nitori had kissed, and he’d felt jealousy hit him like a moving train. But Rin had quickly collected himself and dug himself into the worst mood he’d been in for weeks. Why should he care what those two do in their spare time? What right did he have to be jealous, anyway? _They can fuck each other senseless, for all I care. They only matter to me because they’re my teammates, nothing else._

“Sousuke,” Rin called out as the team headed for the locker room. “Race me.” Sousuke obliged without a word, getting into position and waiting for Rin’s signal.

Rin swam as hard as he could, trying to expunge his pent-up energy. However, Sousuke still pulled ahead and won easily. When he reached the wall and resurfaced at the end of the race, Rin ripped off his goggles with a heavy scowl on his face. Sousuke observed him, trying to trace the source of his captain’s foul mood.

“You were distracted. Your heart wasn’t in it,” the taller boy reported as he pulled himself out of the pool.

“I don’t need you to tell me about my _heart._ I get enough of that mysticism shit from Haru,” Rin retorted, stomping off for the locker rooms.

Sousuke brushed off the insult and followed Rin, attempting to help. “Tell me what’s wrong, then. Is it Nitori? You’ve been angry ever since you took him out of practice.” Sousuke had the ability to see through most of Rin’s tantrums, partly as a result of spending so much time with him over the years.

“Yeah, okay, it’s Nitori, and the fact that you and he have probably been doing _god knows what_ behind my back for the past few months!” Rin snapped, turning on Sousuke with a vicious expression.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Sousuke wondered aloud as he gathered up his clothes from his locker.

“He told me about the two of you kissing at that party,” Rin snarled. “And with the way you practically _leapt_ on him today—”

“Rin, the kid wasn’t breathing!” Sousuke reminded him. “Nothing is going on between him and me, trust me. It was only one time.”

“Yeah, whatever,” muttered Rin. He collected his belongings and headed for the showers. “Don’t wait up.”

* * *

 

Sousuke wasn’t surprised to find their dorm room empty when he returned from his shower in the locker room. He knew that Rin liked to sulk, so the other boy was probably taking a walk somewhere and brooding over the misunderstanding. He sighed as he set his bag down on his desk, wishing that Rin could stop being so dramatic for once and talk to Nitori about what was obviously going on between them. Sousuke had too much on his plate right now to worry about Rin’s relationship problems, and he sat down at his desk to begin studying for his upcoming physics test. Physics had never been his strong suit, and just as his mind was beginning to wander, Sousuke heard a knock on the door.

“Um, is Rin-senpai here?” Nitori asked in a squeaky voice. He still found Sousuke to be intimidating, despite having sat in his lap and kissed him before. “I have his jacket.” He held up the freshly-laundered article, shifting on his feet as he stood in the doorway.

“I’ll give it to him. Rin’s not here. He went out for some air, I think.” Sousuke paused for a moment, then sighed. “You need to talk to him. He’s upset because he thinks you and I are sleeping together.” Rin hadn’t used those exact words, but Sousuke surmised as much, despite how ridiculous the idea was. He had no real interest in Nitori, he just enjoyed kissing people.

Nitori gaped at Sousuke in shock, but he didn’t get the chance to say anything before the two of them heard a voice from down the hall. “Hey,” Rin called out sharply, wearing a glaring expression that sent a wave of trepidation down Nitori’s spine.

“Before you ask, you haven’t interrupted some sort of tryst,” Sousuke deadpanned, guessing what Rin’s deadly expression was about. He tossed Rin his jacket before taking a step inside their room to grab his bag. “I’m going to the library. You two need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Rin spat, standing in the hall with the other two. Sousuke just rolled his eyes and gave Nitori a significant look before heading off down the corridor.

“Senpai?” Nitori ventured quietly, resuming his position in the doorway once Rin had entered his bedroom. “I have your jacket.” He held it out nervously, wondering if the thin ice he was on with Rin was going to break. Rin took the jacket without a word, and Nitori could see that the older student’s jaw was in a tight line, the same tense expression Rin wore when he was trying to hold back his emotions. Gathering up his courage, Nitori took a step inside the room, closing the door behind him so that they could speak privately.

“Senpai, I know why you’re angry. But I just wanted to tell you that nothing’s going on between Yamazaki-senpai and I. It was a one-time thing. I’m certain he doesn’t feel that way for me, and I don’t think of him that way either. Although, I can see why you would” Nitori wrung his hands and blushed a dark red.

Rin, who had stared at Nitori in silence up until this point, arched an eyebrow in confusion. “Why do you think I would have a crush on Sousuke?” he asked incredulously.

“W-well, because he’s an excellent swimmer, just like you, and he’s very tall and good-looking, and he’s kind…” Nitori trailed off, dropping his gaze to the floor. He’d thought of a thousand reasons why Sousuke was better for Rin than he was, but he knew that if he began to list them all, he’d start crying in no time.

“Ai, believe me, you’re a hundred times kinder than that idiot,” Rin scoffed. “You’re the nicest one on the whole damn team.”

Nitori looked up, blinking in surprise. “You think so?”

“Yeah. And he may have years of training on you, but I think you work just as hard as he does, especially recently. You’ve really improved.” Rin took a step closer to Nitori so that they weren’t speaking across the length of the room and watched as the younger boy smiled slightly at the compliment. Nitori’s smile made his whole face light up, and Rin felt his heart swell knowing he’d said something to provoke that reaction he loved so much. “I don’t have a crush on Sousuke. That’s…not why I was upset earlier,” he mumbled.

Nitori’s expression changed to one of puzzlement. He’d been so certain that Rin had feelings for Sousuke. Ever since he’d gotten that idea, he’d spent weeks trying to convince himself that it was true, trying to stamp out any hope of an alternative. Now, however, Nitori was at a loss. “Then why were you?” he asked quietly.

Rin chuckled to hide his nervousness as he took another step closer to him. “I thought you’d have figured that out by now.”

Unable to help noticing their proximity, Nitori gazed into Rin’s eyes for a moment before unconsciously trailing down and staring at the other boy’s lips. His brain seemed to go blank as he became aware of Rin’s lips getting closer to him, and when he felt them on his own, it took him a second to rouse himself and respond. Nitori closed his eyes and kissed Rin back, just beginning to understand when Rin pulled away.

The two stared silently at one another for a moment. Rin was gauging Nitori’s reaction, and Nitori was trying desperately to think of something witty to say in response. With no such luck, Nitori settled for simply leaning in and kissing Rin once more. Rin wrapped his arms around the younger boy’s waist as Nitori rested his hands on Rin’s shoulders. The two of them were happy to finally understand one another perfectly.


End file.
